Treasury Relief Art Project Explained

Agency Name:Treasury Relief Art Project
Picture Caption:David Slivka bas relief,
Berkeley, Calif. Post Office
Dissolved:1938
Parent Agency:United States Department of the Treasury

The Treasury Relief Art Project (TRAP) was a New Deal arts program that commissioned visual artists to provide artistic decoration for existing Federal buildings during the Great Depression in the United States. A project of the United States Department of the Treasury, TRAP was administered by the Section of Painting and Sculpture and funded by the Works Progress Administration, which provided assistants employed through the Federal Art Project. The Treasury Relief Art Project also created murals and sculpture for Public Works Administration housing projects. TRAP was established July 21, 1935, and continued through June 30, 1938.

Program

The Treasury Relief Art Project was created July 21, 1935,[1] with an allocation of $530,784 from the Works Progress Administration. The project was conceived and overseen by Treasury Department arts administrator Edward Bruce. Artist Olin Dows was chief of the Treasury Relief Art Project;[2] Cecil H. Jones, who later succeeded Dows, was assistant chief. Forbes Watson was director.[3] Unlike the concurrent Treasury Section of Painting and Sculpture, TRAP was a work-relief program, subject to the income and employment standards of the WPA.[2] The September 1935 announcement of the program estimated that it would employ 400 to 500 artists.[2]

The principal mission of the Treasury Relief Art Project was to provide artistic decoration for existing Federal buildings.[4] These projects could not be performed by the Section of Painting and Sculpture, which commissioned art for new construction using a percentage of the budget overseen by the Treasury Department's procurement division.[2] The Treasury Relief Art Project was funded by the WPA. The Section supervised the creative output of TRAP, and selected a master artist for each project. Assistants were then chosen by the artist from the rolls of the WPA Federal Art Project.[5]

As chief of the Treasury Relief Art Project, Dows was responsible for maintaining financial records for relief and non-relief personnel. A fixed proportion of all workers was to be taken from the relief rolls—initially 90 percent,[2] but revised to 75 percent in December 1935.[2]

Although it was regarded as a success, the Treasury Relief Art Project was ended June 30, 1938.[2]

Projects

At a total cost of $833,784,[5] 89 mural projects and 65 sculpture projects were completed under the Treasury Relief Art Project, as well as 10,000 easel paintings that were distributed to Federal offices.[1]

Reginald Marsh was the master artist commissioned in 1937 to create a cycle of murals in fresco for the rotunda of the Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House. Marsh's team of assistants included Oliver M. Baker, Xavier J. Barile, Charles Bateman, Mary Fife, Lloyd Lozes Goff, Ludwig Mactarian, John Poehler, Erica Volsung[5] and J. Walkley, students he knew from his teaching at the Art Students League.[6] It was TRAP's most extensive and successful project in New York,[5] encompassing 2,300 square feet.[6]

Existing post office buildings that received TRAP artwork included the following:

In addition to producing artwork for Federal buildings, the Treasury Relief Art Project created murals and sculpture for Public Works Administration housing projects in Boston, Camden, Chicago, Cleveland, New York, Washington, D.C.[2] and Stamford.

Artists

To maintain its high artistic standards, the Treasury Relief Art Project commissioned only a small number of artists—356 workers at its peak[2] in 1936. Richmond Barthé, Ahron Ben-Shmuel, Paul Cadmus, Marion Greenwood, William Gropper, Reginald Marsh and Heinz Warneke were among the master artists who led projects.[1] A complete list of projects and artists employed by TRAP is included in the final report held by the Smithsonian's Archives of American Art.[2]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Treasury Relief Art Project, 1935–1939 . National Archives Catalog . 2016-04-20.
  2. Book: Kalfatovic, Martin R. . 1994 . The New Deal Fine Arts Projects: A Bibliography, 1933–1992 . Metuchen, New Jersey . The Scarecrow Press . 0-8108-2749-2.
  3. Web site: Treasury Relief Art Project selected administrative and business records, 1935–1939. Archives of American Art . Smithsonian Institution . 2016-04-22.
  4. Web site: New Deal Artwork: GSA's Inventory Project . . 2016-04-22.
  5. O'Connor . Francis V. . Autumn 1969 . The New Deal Art Projects in New York . The American Art Journal . Kennedy Galleries, Inc. . 1 . 2 . 58–79 . 10.2307/1593876 . 1593876 .
  6. Web site: United States Custom House Interior . January 9, 1979 . . 2016-04-26.
  7. Web site: Delaware Post Office New Deal Artwork. wpamurals.com . 2016-04-24 .
  8. Web site: The Dover Delaware Post Office Mural: Harvest, Spring and Summer. William D. White . 2016-04-27 .
  9. January–February 1936 . Work in Progress Under the Treasury Relief Art Project . Bulletin Number 8 . 28 . Washington, D.C. . Treasury Department Art Projects, United States Department of the Treasury . December 5, 2022.
  10. Web site: Historic Properties Listing . Preservation . Westchester County Historical Society . 2016-04-23.
  11. Web site: WPA Mural Remnants At Former Post Office Annex . . 2016-04-23.
  12. Web site: Ventura, CA New Deal Art. wpamurals.com . 2016-04-24 .
  13. Book: Vendryes, Margaret Rose . 2008 . Barthé: A Life in Sculpture . Jackson . University Press of Mississippi . 82–83 . 9781604730920.
  14. Web site: Federal Building and U. S. Courthouse: Bisttram Murals – Albuquerque NM. The Living New Deal . Department of Geography, University of California, Berkeley . 2016-04-22 .
  15. Web site: Carlsbad Museum Mural – Carlsbad NM. The Living New Deal . Department of Geography, University of California, Berkeley . 2016-04-21 .
  16. Web site: Courthouse Mural – Gainesville GA . The Living New Deal . Department of Geography, University of California, Berkeley . 2016-04-21 .
  17. Web site: Treasury Relief Art Project (TRAP) Sites. The Living New Deal . Department of Geography, University of California, Berkeley . 2023-10-23 .
  18. Web site: Post Office (former) Mural – Glenwood Springs CO. The Living New Deal . Department of Geography, University of California, Berkeley . 2016-04-21 .
  19. Web site: Birch Bayh Federal Building Murals – Indianapolis IN. The Living New Deal . Department of Geography, University of California, Berkeley . 2016-04-21 .
  20. Web site: Heroic America: James Daugherty's Mural Drawings from the 1930s . Lawton . Rebecca E. . Resource Library . Traditional Fine Arts Organization, Inc. . 2016-04-22.
  21. October 25, 1937. A Shy Artist Paints Bold Murals . . 2016-04-23 .
  22. Web site: Post Office (former) Murals – Mount Kisco NY. The Living New Deal . Department of Geography, University of California, Berkeley . 2016-04-21 .
  23. Web site: Post Office Bas Relief – Bedford IN. The Living New Deal . Department of Geography, University of California, Berkeley . 2016-04-22 .
  24. Web site: Byron White U.S. Courthouse Sculptures – Denver CO. The Living New Deal . Department of Geography, University of California, Berkeley . 2016-04-21 .
  25. Web site: Post Office Murals – Cranford NJ. The Living New Deal . Department of Geography, University of California, Berkeley . 2016-04-23 .
  26. Book: Marling, Karal Ann . 1982 . Wall-to-Wall America: A Cultural History of Post Office Murals in the Great Depression . registration . Minneapolis . University of Minnesota Press . 9780816636730.
  27. Web site: Post Office (former) frescos – Beverly Hills CA . The Living New Deal . Department of Geography, University of California, Berkeley . 2016-04-21 .
  28. Web site: Eureka Courthouse and Post Office Murals – Eureka CA. The Living New Deal . Department of Geography, University of California, Berkeley . 2016-04-21 .
  29. Web site: Thomas Sergeant LaFarge . Living New Deal . 11 November 2022.
  30. Web site: New York New Deal Art . wpamurals.com . 2016-04-23 .
  31. Web site: Ann Rice O'Hanlon Fresco Mural – Lexington KY. The Living New Deal . Department of Geography, University of California, Berkeley . 2016-04-21 .
  32. Web site: Post Office Murals—Hudson Falls NY. Living New Deal . 2017-12-07.
  33. Web site: Main Post Office Mural – Berkeley CA. The Living New Deal . Department of Geography, University of California, Berkeley . 2016-04-22 .
  34. Web site: Main Post Office Bas Relief – Berkeley CA. The Living New Deal . Department of Geography, University of California, Berkeley . 2016-04-22 .
  35. Web site: Post Office Murals – Altoona PA. The Living New Deal . Department of Geography, University of California, Berkeley . 2016-04-22 .
  36. Web site: Wesley United Church Education Center (Old Post Office) Mural – Dover DE. The Living New Deal . Department of Geography, University of California, Berkeley . 2016-04-22 .

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